Fellini’s La Dolce Vita, one of my all-time favourite films, was on TV the other night. Every time I see it, I’m struck by how prescient Fellini was about mass media—about its power and hollow-headed appetite for what can be most charitably described as event culture.
But there’s also a message in there for everyone who is fond of being on the viewfinder-end of things—be it the monitor you’re looking into right now, or a camera. For all its virtues, that electronic window—like the hero in the Fellini film—can only bear witness to happenings. It can capture, yes. But can never really live that sweet life.
It’s an important lesson that bears repeating in business. We all want happiness and fulfilment in what we do. And part of that is to be generous with the time you make for family and friends. That’s where the sweet life lives.